Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The April 2016 puzzler is above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us what part of the world we are looking at, when the image was acquired, what the image shows, and why the scene is interesting. How to answer. Your answer can be a […]
New Gear Readied for Advanced Space Science
The International Space Station crew is getting the orbital laboratory ready this week for a wide variety of advanced space science. The station also received a new module that will be expanded in late May for two years of habitability tests. The Expedition 47 crew members are starting the work week setting up hardware for …
Welcome to Alberta, Canada!
Our adventure began in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on Wednesday, April 13th. After a solid day of driving up and over the Rocky Mountains, we arrived in Alberta on Thursday. Here are some photos from the drive. You can see our team mascot in the photos – a stuffed animal version of an American robin. […]
NASA targeting April 19 for super pressure balloon launch attempt
NASA is targeting Tuesday, April 19 (Monday, April 18 in Eastern Time), to conduct a super pressure balloon (SPB) test flight launching from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, on a potentially 100-day journey. Forecast surface and low-level winds are aligned for an early launch attempt; officials are watching trajectory projections closely. NASA will begin flight preparations …
BEAM Successfully Installed to the International Space Station
Following extraction from Dragon, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) was installed to the International Space Station at 5:36 a.m. EDT. At the time of installation, the space station was flying over the Southern Pacific Ocean. It will remain attached to station for two-year test period. NASA is investigating concepts for habitats that can keep …
Second Half of J-level Work Platforms Installed in Vehicle Assembly Building
The second half of the J-level work platforms was lifted by crane and installed today in High Bay 3 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The newly installed platform completes the second of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to NASA’s Space Launch …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 04/15/16
Cell Mechanosensing 3 (CMS-3) Operations: Following yesterday’s successful observation obtained by repositioning the thermal sample container to allow enough lighting through the microscope for imaging, the crew completed another microscope observation setting for CMS-3. CMS-3 is a JAXA investigation that identifies gravity sensors in skeletal muscle cells to develop countermeasures to muscle atrophy. Scientists believe …
Mapping to Make Sense of Pluto
Today's blog post is from Oliver White, a postdoctoral researcher in planetary science at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. He studies the geomorphology and surface processes of planetary bodies in the outer solar system. Looking at the surface of a planet or moon for the first time can be bewildering, particularly when …
BEAM Installation Work Begins Tonight
BEAM, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, will be removed from the back of the SpaceX Dragon late tonight before installation on the Tranquility module begins early Saturday. Expansion of the new habitat module won’t occur until late May for two years of habitability tests. Meanwhile, the six-member Expedition 47 crew kept up its very busy …